Extracting our very own DNA!

Have you ever been asked to spit at school? Hopefully not! Well, today we did just that! We were trying to extract DNA from our cheek cells, so we had to chew on our cheeks, swill our mouths out with water and spit into a pot! After adding some ethanol and a soapy liquid, as if by magic, our DNA appeared! With a little pink dye, it became even clearer!

We had an amazing session and all went home with a pendant containing our own DNA! Not only that, we should be able to explain what DNA is after  such clear explanations from Prof. Holloway, Dr Holloway and Dr Hollis. 

We are so grateful for these three scientists from Southampton University giving up their time to come and talk about their jobs and do such an exciting practical with us. I hope it has made some of you really excited about the world of science. Maybe some of you fancy being a geneticist in the future?